British Land Buys Woolwich Estate In South East London For GBP 103 Mln

2/9/2018 2:24 AM ET

British Land Co Plc. (BRLAF, BTLCY,BLND.L) said Friday that it has acquired the Woolwich Estate, covering 4.9 acres in south east London for a headline price of 103 million pounds. This represents a net initial yield of 4.1 percent.

British Land noted that the acquisition builds on its portfolio of places benefiting from the Elizabeth Line, including Broadgate, Paddington Central and Ealing Broadway, and provides significant potential to drive growth and returns through the company's placemaking, asset management and development expertise.

The Woolwich estate covers 360,000 square feet of space in central Woolwich. Predominantly retail, it includes over 50,000 square feet of residential and 3,000 square feet of office space.

British Land noted that the area is already benefiting from significant regeneration, led by the Elizabeth Line which launches from Woolwich in December 2018, reducing journey times to Canary Wharf and Bond Street to 8 and 22 minutes respectively.

The Woolwich Estate comprises 56 retail units and has footfall of 6 million. It benefits from an improving local demographic with over 40 percent of residents falling within the top three most affluent groups, per CACI consumer classification.

Coinciding with the arrival of the Elizabeth Line, Greenwich Council are investing 31 million pounds to deliver a new "Creative District" which will transform five historic buildings into theatre and concert space, with offices and restaurants.